Watford are on the brink of an exciting new era, according to midfielder Tom Cleverley.

With the arrival of new head coach Vladimir Ivic and a number of younger players now fighting for first-team football, the former Manchester United man is excited about what the new season could bring, describing the atmosphere at training as "a breath of fresh air".

The Hornets begin their attempt to get back into the Premier League this Friday night with their Championship curtain raiser against Middlesbrough at Vicarage Road and Cleverley hopes that he, along with his teammates, can put things right for those at the club who suffered the most from the relegation.

He feels the squad and the head coach are exactly the right people to do just that.

"We're the guys who see how much work everyone else around the football club puts in day in day out, right from board level to car park level and we want to repay those people," he said. "We want to repay the fans and as professionals we want to be in the top league, so I feel a lot of responsibility for that and I want to put it right.

"It might be a big statement, but I think we're looking at a bit of a new era at the club. I think there'll be a lot of experienced players leave and younger players get a chance, so I think it's an exciting time.

"I see it first hand in training every day and we've got an exciting batch of players, especially young players. It's a pleasure to work with them every day and no one is happy to be relegated, but I think there are some positives to take out of it and let's try and achieve our targets for this year and the beginning of a new era for the football club.

"It's been a breath of fresh air training with the young lads, they're hungry, they want to improve, they want to listen and they've got bags of ability to go with that, so I've enjoyed it."

One of the changes Cleverley is most looking forward to being a part of during the upcoming season is a Watford team playing with a new style.

In his first press conference since arriving as head coach, Ivic spoke about his philosophy and how he wants his side to attack by building from the back.

Cleverley thinks that has already had a positive effect on the team, who are growing in confidence as they learn to play the head coach's "dominant" football.

"Playing out from the back, you can feel like a more dominant team if you just have that confidence to play like that, to keep the ball, to not just take the easy option and shell it forward all the time," he said. "It's a lot easier said than done when you're not playing the standard of opposition that we were last year at times and your confidence can get knocked when you go to Man City, or take on Man United and people like this. That's behind us now and we're fully focused on the season ahead and we know our objectives and how to achieve them.

"We want to be the dominant force, the team with the ball and it's not going to be easy because there's a lot of well organised teams and the teams that came down will be wanting to do the same, but I'm confident in the squad and the manager that we can carry that out."